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Museum ichthyology research technician Zachary Randall won first place in 2015 with this cleared and stained image of a Bowfin, Amia calva.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida students, staff and faculty have until Dec. 20 to enter the sixth annual Elegance of Science art competition.

Organized by the Marston Science Library and Florida Museum of Natural History, the contest is open to UF students and employees who create two-dimensional images as part of their research or incorporate scientific tools or concepts in their artwork.

“The contestants are challenged to communicate their favorite sciences in a casual way through an attractive or puzzling image and a caption that targets a general audience,” said Andrei Sourakov, a collection coordinator at the Florida Museum McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity and one of the event organizers. “In addition to educating the public about diverse sciences at UF, the event bridges gaps between people from across campus.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — While most global warming headlines in mainstream media have focused on sea level rise, a new exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History investigates the health effects of climate change for North Central Florida residents.

Through photos and other images from a number of local, regional and national sources, “Changing Climate and Our Health” also provides concrete ways people can take action. The free exhibit is the latest in a series of displays highlighting world issues that influence humans’ daily lives.

“Climate change will impact everyone,” said exhibit project lead Katie Stofer of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “Focusing on our local area makes the problem much more meaningful and manageable. I’m hopeful the exhibit will promote conversation on this important topic.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Museum of Natural History visitors will have the opportunity to view the moon and planets with astronomy experts Nov. 4 from 6 to 10 p.m. during the museum’s annual “Starry Night” event.

The guest speaker for this year’s program is Cathy Olkin, the deputy project scientist for NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto, who will present “Our New View of Pluto,” featuring images of Pluto’s large glacier and mountains. Olkin will answer audience questions following the presentation.

“Astronomy is a science that everyone can engage with,” Olkin said. “You look in the sky and see planets, stars and the Milky Way. For many, this can spur curiosity about other fields of science.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Museum of Natural History paleontologists are recruiting volunteers to help excavate a recently discovered site in eastern Levy County that has produced thousands of fossils, including more than 55 vertebrate species.

Researchers are enthusiastic about the 5- to 5.5 million-year-old fossils being recovered and say it is the first site of this particular age found in North Central Florida.

“No other fossil site of this age in the southeastern United States produces such a rich abundance of freshwater vertebrates,” said Florida Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology Jonathan Bloch. “This is an important resource in understanding the evolutionary history of this ecosystem in the region.”

Volunteers, who dig side-by-side with museum staff, must be at least 15 years old, and (more…)

The Florida Museum will host a pop-up museum where guests may bring fossils from home to identify them with scientists and touch real shark and ray fossils. Visitors may also help transcribe data, including information from 180 images of Alachua County fall flowers, as part of WeDigBio, (more…)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Beginning today, the Florida Museum of Natural History is offering reduced admission to low-income guests as part of a nationwide program to encourage museum visitation and accessibility for families from all socioeconomic groups.

Guests who present a valid electronic benefits transfer card may enter the “Butterfly Rainforest” and featured exhibition for a reduced fee of $3 per adult as part of “Museums for All,” an initiative of the Association of Children’s Museums and Institute of Museum and Library Services.

“We hope this program will expand access and provide meaningful connections to science in our community,” said Darcie MacMahon, (more…)

Bruce MacFadden is a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum.Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A Florida Museum of Natural History curator has been selected to serve as president-elect of the Paleontological Society, the largest professional organization devoted to advancing the study of fossil animals and plants.

Bruce MacFadden, distinguished University of Florida professor and Florida Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology, will take office Sept. 25 during the society’s annual meeting in Denver. He will serve two years as president-elect and then a two-year term as president.

“It is an honor to lead the Paleontological Society,” MacFadden said. “I am interested in reaching out to anyone who wants to be involved with fossils and paleontology, whether they are professionals, students, teachers, hobbyists or other members of the general public.”

MacFadden was a geology instructor at Yale University before he began working at the Florida Museum in 1977. His research focuses on the evolution, (more…)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — From climate to the peninsula’s very shape, not much in Florida has stayed the same over the last 8 million years.

Florida Museum researcher David Steadman displays a 20,000-year-old American alligator fossil skull from the Ichetucknee River in north Florida. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace

Except, it turns out, alligators.

While many of today’s top predators are more recent products of evolution, the modern American alligator is a reptile quite literally from another time. New University of Florida research shows these prehistoric-looking creatures have remained virtually untouched by major evolutionary change for at least 8 million years, and may be up to 6 million years older than previously thought. Besides some sharks and
a handful of others, very few living vertebrate species have such a long duration in the fossil record with so little change.

“If we could step back in time 8 million years, you’d basically see the same animal crawling around then as you would see today in the Southeast. Even 30 million years ago, they didn’t look much different,” said Evan Whiting, a former UF undergraduate and (more…)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Museum of Natural History visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the significant role butterflies have in nature during ButterflyFest on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The free event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. features live butterfly releases, workshops and activities for all ages. This year’s theme, “Why Butterflies Matter,” highlights the ecological importance of butterflies, including serving as environmental indicators and the flagship species for conservation. The insects also are model organisms for many areas of biology research.

“Butterflies are important biological indicators of a healthy environment and ecosystem,” said Jaret Daniels, associate curator and director of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. “These charismatic ‘gateway bugs’ also help stimulate interest in nature, (more…)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Fossil primates, ancient mollusks and exotic butterflies will soon be coming to your home—as long as you have a personal computer.

This week, the National Science Foundation awarded a five-year, $15.5 million grant to the iDigBio project based at the University of Florida to continue leading the national effort to digitize biodiversity collections and make them available online.

iDigBio combines the efforts of the Florida Museum of Natural History, UF’s College of Engineering Advanced Computing Information Systems Laboratory and the Institute for Digital Information and Scientific Communication at Florida State University.

Initiated by the NSF’s Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections program in 2011, iDigBio aims to make the vast amount of information in biodiversity collections readily available online. Collaborating with faculty and (more…)

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